Miloslav Komínek

Miloslav 'Milo' Komínek was born on 20th July 1926 to Josef Komínek, a worker at the iron-works in Frýdek-Místek, and his wife Marie. He finished his apprenticeship as a locksmith and a cine-operator. During the Protectorate period, he participated in the underground resistance with most of the members of his family. He helped mainly with the manufacture of explosives and bombs. He was interested in politics, after the war he began to cooperate with the Czechoslovak People's Party. He also passed a flying and parachute training. In 1945 to 1948 he represented Czechoslovakia in aerobatics at air shows all around the world. In 1948 he tried to escape abroad but he was caught and imprisoned for a short time. After the release in summer 1948 he became a part of a resistance group Portáš-Jánošík operating in the North Moravian Beskydy mountains. The group was soon revealed and its members received severe sentences. Milo Komínek and his five friends, all between 17 and 21 years old, were sentenced to a sum of 53 years in prison... Milo Komínek passed through prisons and camps at Bory, in the Jáchymov area (the Rovnost mine), at Leopoldov and Valdice. He was released in 1965. In 1968 he left the country through Austria and Switzerland to Canada where he runs small publishing company. After the Revolution he expanded his publishing activities back to the Czech Republic.

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